Sierra Mountain Times

MMM… BEEFY

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Rated PG) 81 mins

Fame (Rated PG) 107 mins. 

So in the last couple weeks we have been treated to a remake of an iconic 80’s film in Fame, and the Hollywood version of a popular 1980’s children’s book in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. As far as my opinion is concerned, only one of them had any business making an appearance in the new century. 

I’ll start with Fame, and a warning: fans of the original, steer clear! Everything you loved about the original trek through adolescence has been replaced by soulless commercialistic crock. Over-promoted and under achieving, Fame is a virtual cliché of everything we have seen about the teenage years in the past two decades of film. The plot is unoriginal, the characters unexplored, and the allure of the original film is nowhere to be seen.  I hate to be so frank, but when Hollywood messes with something that was good in the first place and ruins it, they deserve what’s coming to them.

For those who still decide to see the film (or are tricked into it), the storyline is as follows. A handful of teens are going through their high school years dealing with the usual bad guys of the age. Drinking, pre-marital sex, and “parents who don’t understand” all make an appearance. Of course, the movie is rated PG, so they aren’t as bad as they could be, or as realistic. Fame takes us through all four years of school and blah blah blah… you get the idea. If you haven’t seen it all before, you either have just come out of a cave or you have spent your life doing much better things than watching movies (after this one, I wish I were you!). Where the original Fame was clever and dealt with realistic issues in a realistic manner (gaining a much deserved R rating for its portrayals), this Fame is weak and fails to achieve much of anything worthwhile. It also doesn’t help that most of the actors, while talented, are in their mid-20’s and dance like broadway stars while pretending to be 14. Ok I can’t do this anymore, moving on!

It’s amazing how kid movies are starting to have a better track record than films geared toward older folk. Well Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs continues the streak by being much more watchable than any of the other movies released with it. The story is that of young Flint, a boy who lives on an island that’s economy depends almost solely upon its canning of sardines. Well as we know from the past year, economies can slump, and so when the island’s sardines stop selling, everyone gets stuck eating them, and, as one can imagine, that eventually gets pretty old. Young and idealistic, Flint yearns to be an inventor, but has his dreams put on hold by his father who needs Flint’s help in their sardine store. But then the bad times come, and it is Flint who creates a device to rescue the island from their monotonous eating habits. 

To the relief of everyone who had to eat far too many sardines, Flint’s machine magically takes water and transforms it into any kind of delicacy one can imagine. Pizza, hamburgers, jellybeans… anything but brussel sprouts and other healthy things (remember it’s for the kids). How wonderful! And it is, until the machine goes haywire, and suddenly the inhabitants of the tiny island are inundated with more tree-sized junk food than is livable. And since it was Flint’s idea, you can bet it better be him who fixes the problem.

Kids will love Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with its giant food in all sorts of interesting settings. The fact that it was filmed in 3-D (and brilliantly so!) helps reinforce the awesome scenery. The makers of this film obviously had some kid in them. Overall, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is no classic, but it is enjoyable enough to pass the time for now. Just don’t go see Fame! 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs SCORE: 3.5/5

Fame SCORE: 1/5